1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a waste disposal apparatus and, more particularly, to an automated apparatus particularly suited for the sanitary and odorless disposal of waste such as soiled diapers.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are a number of systems for disposing of waste materials such as soiled diapers. The systems are often touted as a convenient way to dispose of such waste materials and reduce or eliminate any odor that may emanate from the materials. An example of such systems is U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,055 which discloses a diaper container that includes an activated charcoal filter to retain and absorb orders within the container.
Most waste receptacles are fitted with a lid designed to contain odors when the lid is closed. However, most lids are not designed to be perfectly air-tight in respect of their receptacles, or after repeated use become less-than air tight, permitting malodor to emanate from the receptacles even when they are closed. Even with the most air-tight containers, upon opening the container, the noxious odors escape into the area giving an extremely unpleasant sensation to the person attempting to add more trash to the receptacle. Location of the receptacles in a remote location is inconvenient and generally unsatisfactory.
Numerous receptacles have been proposed for temporarily holding diaper waste. These receptacles typically employ one of several approaches to reduce the emanation of malodor from the receptacle, which may be characterized as the use of making agents, odor sorbent material, inner lids or seals, air locks or sealed packaging.
Another problem with trash receptacles is that they tend to retain noxious odors even after the trash is ultimately removed. After a period of time a thorough and complete cleaning of such receptacles is necessary.
The scented diaper pail has been commercially available for many years. Scent is added to the diaper pail in the hope of hiding the smell of the malodor by producing a smell that masks the malodor to the olfactory senses. The problem with such pails is that the masking smell itself can often become irritating to the consumer, as well as the fact that most scented diaper pails lose their masking effect after a period of time.
A particularly difficult trash to retain for ultimate disposal is diapers. Diapers are typically stored and accumulated in a container. The cumulative odor of diapers being stored within the container frequently reaches such an offensive level that the diapers must be disposed of before the container is full. The latter leads to a large use of container liners such as bags, and excessive emptying operations. Excessive emptying operation can be of particular concern as one hesitates to leave the infant unattended or to carry the infant and the soiled diapers to a remote location. A further problem associated with such containers is that the containers themselves over time tend to retain the malodor even when no diapers are present in the containers. Therefore a thorough and complete cleaning of such containers is often necessary to reduce the lingering odor. Further, as many diaper disposal receptacles are not child-proof, toddlers playing around the container may inadvertently open the container to allow odors to escape or the child may reach in to touch soiled diapers.
European patent application No. 0005660, the contents of which are incorporated by reference herein, describes a device for disposing kitchen refuse in packages enclosed by flexible tubing derived from a tubular pack of tubing surrounding a tubular guide. The device includes a tube sealing mechanism. The tubing passes from the pack over the top of and then down the guide to a position beneath the guide where it has been closed by fusion to provide a receptacle within the guide means. When this receptacle is full of refuse, a lever is manually operated to actuate an electro-mechanical apparatus including clamping and fusion devices that travel round closed tracks to perform the four-fold task of drawing the receptacle down below the tubular guide, fusing the tubing walls together to seal the top of the receptacle, sealing the tubing walls together to provide the closed base of the next receptacle and dividing the tubing by heat at a location between these two fusion locations to separate the filled package. There are a number of disadvantages with this device including the need for latches to prevent the wheels extending from the heating elements from inadvertently returning up the central track portions (as opposed to following the outer track portions as they should. A further disadvantage is that the heating element must be at least the width of the tube in order to seal the tube all the way across thereby preventing, for example, the escape of odors from the waste.
Another popular approach to disposing of such diapers has been with a device using a tube twisting mechanism to form a pouch about the diaper. As an example, see the disclosures of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,869,049, 5,590,512, and 5,813,200, the contents of all of which are incorporated by reference herein.
The U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,200 to Jacoby, et al. discloses a device for disposing of soiled diapers in twisted packages. The device has a container body with a hinged base, a hinged lid, and an upward cylinder secured within the container body. A tubular core rests on a portion of the upward cylinder to allow rotation there between. A flexible tube or sleeve rests on a portion of the tubular core with the tubing being circumferentially pleated as stored. Springs are fixed to the container and project radially inward to engage a package formed from the tube. The springs are equally spaced around the interior of the container to hold the package during the forming of a twist in the tube.
The device disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,200 is used to form a series of packages enclosing objects. The top of the flexible tubing is pulled upwards and tied into a knot. The closed end formed by the knot can then form the bottom of a package with the sidewalls formed by the tubing. The object is inserted and rests against the tubing near the knot. A rotatable interior lid is put into place and rotated such that the unused tubing and the tubular core rotate with respect to the package that is being formed. The package being formed does not rotate because it is held in place by friction between it and springs. Thus a package is formed between the knot and a first twist. Subsequently, objects are disposed and twisted in a like manner to form discrete packages with twists between them.
Devices such as that disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,813,200 are a convenient way of disposing of soiled diapers. A disadvantage of the system is that the twists between packages may become unraveled, thereby allowing groups of diapers to collect within the tubing, which makes emptying the container more difficult. Further, the twists do not create a continuous, complete seal and, therefore, may allow odor to escape from a package. Increasing the twists between packages may eliminate the above disadvantages, however, this requires the use of additional tubing.
Another example of a device used to decrease odors that emanate from diaper waste is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,370,847 and 6,516,588, both issued to Jensen, et al. These related patents disclose a sealable diaper-disposal system that includes a container body, a tubular core on which flexible tubing is stored, and a tube-sealing mechanism having a pair of heating elements. The flexible tubing is pulled from the tubular core and passed between the pair of heating elements. The tube-sealing mechanism operates to move the pair of heating elements toward each other to fuse the width of the tubing, and away from each other to allow the tubing to be pushed into the lower portion of the container body.
The contents of all of the prior art references cited herein are incorporated by reference. From the above it can be understood by those having ordinary skill in the art that there are a number of disadvantages associated with prior art waste disposal devices using flexible tubing to form packets for disposal of waste materials. It is clear that a device is needed that will eliminate the disadvantages described above. Such a device should be relatively economical to purchase and operate, ensure that the seals between packets are complete and cannot come undone, and be easy to operate.